


Can you hold me?

by hawktasha



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, F/M, Zutara, Zutara Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawktasha/pseuds/hawktasha
Summary: My own one shot for Zutara Week 2020.A little late of its due, but a mix of promts from day 4 and day 6.• Day 4: Celestial• Day 6: Affirm
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Can you hold me?

**Author's Note:**

> I write this for Cata and Gigi, for helping me find a piece of myself I didn’t knew I had lost.

It was a quiet night. Finally, a damn quiet night. 

The war was over, Ozai had been defeated. 

But even if it was _over_ , there were a lot of things to do. So many things to **fix.**

The war had left the world scattered into pieces, villages and cities had been devastated. There was pain, sickness, hunger. 

And even if it wasn’t _his_ doing, even if it all had been the hand of a **madman** ; it was Zuko’s duty to fix _everything._ As the next fire lord. 

A week had already passed since his coronation, and the weight of all the responsibilities only grew bigger and bigger with every hour passing by. _What was he supposed to do? What was he going to do to help_ **_everyone_ **? 

He was just a kid. Yes, maybe he was nearly eighteen, and maybe he knew one day that **place** would be his; but damn, he did not know where the hell he was coming into. 

On top of all, his mind wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and for quite some time he knew exactly why. 

He tried so hard; after the Agni Kai, after he took than _lighting_ … He tried so hard to **repress** those feelings, but damn it, he knew he was doomed the second he met **her.**

And truth be told, he wouldn’t change a single thing. 

From their first encounters as enemies, to the moment he chose to loose his own **life** before losing _her_. And he would do it again a thousand and one more times. 

But he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help not being able to stop thinking about her. 

He may be a ruler now, he may have a thousand responsibilities… but he was sick of putting **everything** before himself. Sick of never being able to _live._

From a very young age he had been beaten, mocked, and exiled. He lost his family, his honor. _Everything._

He never got a chance to live a life he truly wanted, to choose a path he really enjoyed walking. Until that day. 

And damn if he was afraid. He was fucking **terrified.** All cells in his body told him someone like her would never look twice at someone like him. But he was sick being a coward. Sick of always let go before he could really know if he **had** to. 

He had written her a letter. Afraid of rejection, afraid of seen her reaction to his words. 

He had written the most heartfelt letter he has ever left. A letter in which he describes every single feeling he had for her, since the very beginning till that night. 

He had written her a letter in which he asked her to meet him there, on the top of that singular cliff, where you could see the sea below and the wind caress your face like if it was whispering to you. 

If she did _showed up_ , he knew he would be the **happiest** person in the world. Because if she showed up, it meant her answer to the question he asked in the letter was a **_yes._ ** It meant that she _feels_ the same about him. 

So he waited. His eyes flickering from the waves below him to the cloudless sky above him. To the countless stars that shine bright against the black sky. 

And he felt his nerves increasing with every minute. His heart sinking a little more with each turn of the clock. 

He was about to **_give up_ ** and leave when he heard the steps behind him. Hesitant. 

He didn’t last a second to turn around, seeing her as beautiful as ever. Even more. 

The plain moonlight brightened her factions in a way that it would have been impossible to describe. 

She was dressed in red, with the Fire Nation outfit he was already accustomed to see her in. The color fit her perfectly, and contrast with the almond of her skin. 

“Sorry I’m late.” she muttered sitting beside him, her hands playing nervously with the end of her dress. 

“You’re here.” a mere observation, it seemed. But it was so much more. Because _she was there,_ she had coming. 

Because even being an obvious observation, it _meant_ she read the letter. It meant she knew how he felt. It meant _she_ **_feels_ ** _the same._

“I’m here.” she said after a few seconds, her gaze fixated on the ambarine eyes of the prince. A little shy smile plastered in her face. 

And it was nothing left to say, not at the moment. 

Their eyes contemplate the stars above them, their hands tangled almost automatically, like they belong there. Holding each other’s. 

A flicker in the sky broke their silence for a moment. 

“Look, Zuko! A shooting star!” she shouted, joy and happiness splashed all over her frame; pointing with her finger at the sky. “Quickly, we have to make a wish!” 

But he didn’t care about the asteroid at all. 

He only care about the woman in front of him, his eyes scanning every detail of her skin, hypnotized. 

“Zuko! C’mon!” she insisted, now turning her eyes to his. Locking her gaze, _again._

“My wish has already come true” he answered sincerely, mumbling, not even realizing he was leaning to her until he saw her blushing. 

She understood what he meant by his words. Afortunately, even he didn’t know about, her wish was _no different_ from his. 

With little hesitation, the girl moved her hand to the boy’s cheek, closing the distance he already attempt to by himself. Her lips locking against his with softness. 

Neither of them knew what tomorrow will bring, or how they’ll manage their future. 

How they were gonna tell their friends, or where we’re gonna stay. 

But nothing mattered in that moment besides them, besides their **_love_ ** for each other. And in that moment, they felt _stronger, braver_ than ever. 

Because that’s what they meant for each other. They made them their **better** selves. 

After a few seconds, the kiss broke; and the girl took a second before leaning her head over his shoulder. 

They listen to the shooting sound of the sea and don’t dare to make a move, afraid it may break the _spell_ and they would wake up alone in their bedrooms, thinking of what they **wanted** and **_could have_ ** but never got. 

“Can you hold me?” Katara said abruptly, slightly turning her head up to look at the boy. 

He felt the movement before he even listened to her request, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. Turning his gaze down to meet the eyes of the water bender he **knew** he was _totally and completely_ in love, he answered. 

“You don’t need to ask.” a husky murmur leaving his lips, while his arm surrounded the female frame against his own. 

Whatever fate hold for him, he couldn’t be happier of facing it, because he _knew_ she would be by his **side** all the _way down._


End file.
